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Research: home automation systems are very sensitive to privacy violation

Jul

25

2014

Wireless home automation systems are rarely equipped with adequate security and can easily be a profile of the behavior and habits of residents made based on intercepting data enables researchers at a German university.

The researchers from the German University of Saarland used a mini PC to tap home automation systems of two volunteers and so to see how many such systems reveal about their users. They found that those systems do not use large amounts of data encryption to release and that an attacker does not need prior knowledge of the system or the user in order to intercept such data.

“The attacker can analyze the data to obtain. System commands and status messages These are items that tell a lot about the behavior and habits of the population,” says security expert Christoph Sorge of the University, “We were able to derive the times when residents were not home and identify. “patterns for ventilation and heating Details about their study, the researchers have not yet published.

However, systems which are encrypted output data rate. “Based on the message traffic can still be distracted when residents are absent.” The researchers point to the risk of attacks on the systems, the privacy risks and the value of the information for burglars. According to him, there is still much to be done to make. Wireless home automation systems more secure